In some applications of the SON (self-optimizing networks) approach, knowledge of the interference effect of a specific base station (BS) on a UE (user equipment) is needed.
For example, modern pricing algorithms used in wireless cellular systems give significant improvements in network capacity as compared with selfish approaches, by taking into account the interference due to a specific BS. Such algorithms are described in the 3GPP DAC-UPC contributions R3-112752 and R3-120087.
Implementation of such algorithms or other SON applications generally requires the UE (user equipment) to measure the degradation of the usable MCS (modulation and coding scheme) caused by each strong interferer. This degradation is referred to as the “cost.” However, no such measurements are defined in some cellular standards, such as LTE.